Microsoft announced that it has added Linux support along with other updates to its Windows Azure cloud computing platform. The Azure platform now supports Ubuntu 12.04, openSUSE 12.1, CentOS 6.2, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2.

From the Canonical blog: “We’re announcing today that you can obtain and launch Official Ubuntu Images from Canonical on Windows Azure. Windows Azure is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) from Microsoft that now includes the ability to manage individual virtual machines so that you can fully customize and control the infrastructure behind your cloud instances.”

Virtual machines provide application mobility, letting users move virtual hard disks back and forth between local machines and the cloud. Users can migrate existing workloads, such as Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft SharePoint, to the cloud or bring their own customized Windows Server or Linux images.

According to Canonical, you can now launch Ubuntu images directly from the Windows Azure Gallery. The Windows Azure gallery currently contains Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS, and support is available directly from Canonical. With the Fall Release of Windows Azure, you will be able to buy support directly from the Windows Azure Gallery. If you want to deploy Ubuntu on multiple clouds as well as in your data center, Ubuntu Advantage provides mission critical support along with capabilities for automating and managing your Ubuntu environment.